GCSE English verdict: A bitter blow for justice

So we lost the GCSE English legal challenge, as we discovered in a long delayed judgement last week. This was a bitter disappointment for the alliance that campaigned for justice, but an even greater blow for the thousands of students denied access to work, further or higher education as a result of the shift in grade boundaries: students who did the same work to the same quality but got a lower grade than those who sat the exams earlier.

There are few crumbs of comfort in the judge’s ruling. Apparently it was indeed unfair on the students, but the regulator acted reasonably in apportioning the unfairness to cause the least harm. In taking this view, the judge seems to have attached as much value to the principle of comparable outcomes as to the welfare of the individuals involved. I’m not sure comparable outcomes deserves such respect, but that’s not really for the courts to decide.